By
virtue of being the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament, LSU will be the home team
on Wednesday when it starts play at the conference tournament. Safe to say,
though, the Tigers won't be the home-town favorite.

No.
2/3-ranked LSU (48-8) will draw the winner of No. 7 seed Alabama (32-24) and
No. 10 Auburn (33-22) in the second round, with a first-pitch around 1:30 p.m.
on Wednesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Regardless
of whom the foe is, there figures to be plenty of in-state support. And the level
of desperation from the other dugout will also be palpable.

Alabama,
meanwhile, is 6-6 in the last 12 games. But the Crimson tide gave Vanderbilt all
it wanted on the final week of the regular season with one win, a one-run loss
and a shootout loss in the finale.

Coupled
with a 4-3 win against LSU, Alabama is the only SEC team that beat both of the
conferences clear-cut heavyweights this season.

Kamplain's
struggles aside, Alabama played LSU as tough as anybody in the SEC other than
South Carolina -- which handed the Tigers their only conference series loss.

Alabama third baseman Kenny Roberts was one of the big reasons why the Crimson Tide played so well against LSU in April.Vasha Hunt | AL.com

After
a 5-0, Aaron Nola-anchored win in the opener, both games were nip-and-tuck,
including the marathon on Saturday which matched the longest in both programs'
histories.

The
series against Auburn wasn't nearly as competitive.

LSU
outscored AU 22-7 to complete a sweep and improve to 22-2 for the season. LSU
jumped ahead in all three games and got solid starts from Nola, Ryan Eades and
Cody Glenn. Those three losses dropped Auburn to 0-6 in the SEC on the way to a
1-8 start.

Since
then, AU has gone 12-9 against league foes to move back into the NCAA
Tournament conversation.

The
one variable for LSU regardless of who it faces is Nola. The sophomore
right-hander will be back in action after a 12-day breather. He skipped a start
last weekend vs. Ole Miss after improving to 10-0 with a 7-4 win against Texas
A&M.

Prior
to the game against the Aggies, when he surrendered 3 runs in 6 innings, Nola
had notched four consecutive complete games, including the shutout over
Alabama.

Nola
enters the postseason tied for the league lead in wins, third in strikeouts
(97) and tied for third in ERA among starters (1.99).

Whom
Nola will lock horns is up in the air.

With
Kamplain starting Tuesday, it's likely Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard would turn
to senior Charley Sullivan (5-5, 3.58) against the Tigers. He allowed 4 runs in
6 innings in his previous matchup with Nola. Another option might be sophomore
Spencer Turnbull (4-3, 3.61), who was even more effective against LSU - 9 innings,
3 hits and 2 runs.

Auburn's
options depend on who gets the ball on Tuesday.

Auburn junior Michael O'Neal is 8-4 this season and leads the Tigers in innings pitched (89). He is likely to start against either Alabama on Tuesday or LSU on Wednesday.Julie Bennett | AL.com

Junior
southpaws Connor Kendrick and Michael O'Neal have emerged as AU's most reliable
starters. Kendrick is 5-3 with a 2.03 ERA, while O'Neal leads Auburn in wins
(8), starts (14) and innings pitched (89). Freshman right-hander Justin Camp has
started the last two series finales, after serving most of the season as a long
reliever with a 5-1 mark and 2.44 ERA.

O'Neal
is the only one of that trio who started against LSU during the season, and he
lasted only 4 innings after allowing 5 hits and 4 runs. Kendrick and Camp both
had short relief stints in the series.

Should
LSU get past the second-round game, the winner of a game featuring Arkansas
against either Ole Miss or Kentucky would loom on Thursday. The Rebels (36-20)
and Wildcats (30-24) tangle in the first game of the tournament at 9:30 a.m. on
Tuesday, with the winner moving on face the Razorbacks (35-19) in the first
game of the day on Wednesday.